Crypto Gloss

Block Inc

Block, Inc. (formerly Square, Inc.) is a San Francisco-based financial technology company founded in 2009 by Jack Dorsey and Jim McKelvey, and renamed Block in December 2021 to reflect its expanded focus on the “block” theme across blockchain, music (Tidal), and fintech. Block is one of the most notably Bitcoin-committed public companies in the world — Jack Dorsey has publicly stated that Bitcoin is “the native currency of the internet.” Block’s crypto footprint spans four distinct businesses: Cash App (consumer Bitcoin and Lightning), Spiral (open-source Bitcoin development), TBD (Web5 and decentralized identity), and Bitkey (a Bitcoin hardware wallet).

Background

Jack Dorsey originally built Square to enable small merchants to accept card payments using a smartphone dongle. Square went public in 2015. In parallel, Dorsey became one of Bitcoin’s most vocal public advocates — adding Bitcoin to Cash App in 2018, purchasing $220M in Bitcoin for Square’s balance sheet, and funding open-source Bitcoin development. The renaming to “Block” in December 2021 signaled a permanent identity pivot toward crypto.

Bitcoin-Focused Business Units

Business Description
Cash App P2P payment app; enables Bitcoin buying, selling, withdrawal to wallets, and Lightning payments
Spiral Formerly Square Crypto; funds open-source Bitcoin developers and builds LDK/BDK
TBD Decentralized web/identity platform; Web5 (decentralized identifiers on Bitcoin)
Bitkey Bitcoin self-custody hardware wallet with 2-of-3 multisig (phone + hardware + Block recovery key)

Cash App Bitcoin Revenue

Cash App generates significant revenue from its Bitcoin service — earning the spread between buy/sell prices:

  • In Q4 2021, Cash App Bitcoin revenue exceeded $2.1B (gross); net profit far smaller
  • Cash App offers instant Lightning Network payments — one of the largest Lightning implementations for consumer use
  • Users can withdraw Bitcoin to self-custody wallets, unlike PayPal’s original custodial-only model

Square Balance Sheet Bitcoin

In October 2020, Square purchased $50 million in Bitcoin (~4,709 BTC) for its corporate treasury — one of the early major institutional treasury Bitcoin buys, months before MicroStrategy’s more famous purchases. Block has maintained its Bitcoin treasury position.

Bitkey

Bitkey (launched December 2023) is Block’s consumer Bitcoin hardware wallet using a 2-of-3 multisig architecture:

  1. Phone key (app-based)
  2. Hardware key (physical device)
  3. Block recovery key (backup held by Block)

Two of three keys are required to move funds — providing self-custody without the complexity of full key management.

Related Terms

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